The Palmdale hiker was found safe after disappearing into the Los Angeles National Forest

A Palmdale man who went missing while hiking in Los Angeles National Forest has been found safe and is in good condition, according to authorities.

Rene Compean was found near the Chilao camps and was scheduled to be transported for safety. According to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Compean will not need to be hospitalized.

Compean had sent a photo to a friend before getting lost and search teams were hoping avid hikers could identify the location.

One person who called reported that the hiker had disappeared at six in the afternoon, saying his 45-year-old friend sent a text message informing him that he was lost and that his mobile was dying.

The hiker’s car was then found near Buckhorn camp and the trail.

The photo Compean sent to his friend shows the hiker from the knees down with a cannon underneath. The legs are dirty, possibly from a firebreaking area.

According to the sheriff’s department, a Twitter user recognized the area where the photo was taken and this allowed crews to restrict the search.

“We found a particular Twitter user we had seen in the past. He seemed extremely knowledgeable about mapping and terrain, through many other efforts,” Sgt. John Gilbert. “We started looking at the information he was collecting.”

They connected with Ben Kuo, a well-known ham radio operator.

“I started going through the process of looking at the photo and finding out where it was,” Kuo said. “I also do a lot of hiking, so I’m a little familiar with the area. And I said, ‘Oh, I think I know where this guy is,’ and I found some GPS locations and I gave them a search and kind of rescu “.

“That particular point where he theorized it might be overlapped with the terrain data from the cell phone we had,” Gilbert said. “So we imagined we didn’t have any other good advantages at the time, so why not check it out?”

Rescuers quickly saw the hiker during a break in the clouds and were able to lift him safely. Research teams say volunteers and good Samaritans with sharp eyes like Kuo are always key.

“I’ve provided information before, but this is the first time someone has been rescued,” Kuo said. “So it’s very nice to see that someone isn’t trapped on a hill tonight.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.